


we found love (right where we are)

by banesapothecary (komhmagnus)



Series: inspired by season 6 [4]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coda, Communication, David Rose Deserves Nice Things, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s06e12 The Pitch, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Missing Scene, Patrick Brewer Deserves Nice Things, Post-Episode: s06e12 The Pitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:01:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23315824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/komhmagnus/pseuds/banesapothecary
Summary: Patrick knows that look all too well. It’s a look that says David is expecting the worst case scenario; a look that expects an end.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Series: inspired by season 6 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1595707
Comments: 43
Kudos: 316





	we found love (right where we are)

**Author's Note:**

> hopping on the Communication™ bandwagon after last night's ep
> 
> title is from Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran

David is staring at him when Patrick finally steps out of the tiny bathroom, like he’d been staring at the closed door in anticipation. Patrick expects him to say something, to bring up New York again, but he’s frozen on the bed.  _ Like he’s afraid,  _ Patrick realizes.  _ At least the feeling is mutual. _

Patrick didn’t want to do this tonight, didn’t want to unearth everything that hadn’t been said in the store that morning or at the motel when Johnny, Stevie, and Roland had returned with the good news. And it  _ is _ good news, Patrick knows. Even he, even now, can’t argue that. Even if he’s terrified of what it could mean.

Patrick doesn’t move from the bathroom door, leaning against the frame. He always wants to be near David, to touch him, but right now he thinks touching David might break him.

He lets out a long, excruciating breath and looks at David. He doesn’t meet his eyes, not sure he’ll be able to have this conversation if he does. “We should talk.”

David nods mechanically, mouth hanging open like he wants to say something but his brain hasn’t quite caught up yet. Patrick almost smiles, usually pleased with himself whenever he manages to render David Rose speechless. But not today. Not now. Not with this.

“I don’t want to move to New York,” Patrick says. The words come out loud and quickly, more so than he meant them to, but he needs to get it out.

David closes his eyes, face screwing up in the way that means he’s upset but thinks he should’ve expected it. Patrick knows that look all too well. It’s a look that says David is expecting the worst case scenario; a look that expects an end.

It’s the look Patrick’s been dreading the most, the reason he’d stood in front of the bathroom mirror far longer than he’d needed to.

_ He’ll leave you behind, _ a voice in the back of his head says, and he hates himself for believing it. “Is our life here not good enough?” Patrick asks, voice as small as he feels. “Am I—”

_ “What?”  _ David’s eyes are wide open now, staring at him in shock and something else. Anger, Patrick thinks. “Patrick Brewer, don’t you dare finish that sentence.”

It’s not what he expected. But then, when has he ever gotten what he expected from David Rose?

“Our life here, our store,  _ you,” _ David says, “you’re everything to me.” He blinks up at Patrick. “Why—why would you think that?”

Patrick crosses his arms over his chest, hugging himself with a grip that’s probably too tight, but he feels like it’s the only thing holding him together. “Because,” he says, swallowing. “Because you wanted to leave as soon as you saw a way out.” The words stick in his too dry mouth and he has to force them out. He’d rather swallow them, bury them down and hide like he’s always done when things get too hard or scary. But he’d run before, from Rachel, and look how that had turned out. Patrick is tired of running.

David’s eyes screw shut again, but it’s a different look from before. It’s his  _ This is a mess and it’s all my fault _ look. Patrick doesn’t have it in him to disagree. “That’s not—that’s not what it was. I wasn’t trying to—” He cuts himself off, frustrated. He stares at the bed’s comforter, a dejected set to his brow. Patrick knows that look, too. For all that David’s learned how to communicate his feelings with him and his family, the words still get stuck sometimes, like a faucet that won’t run.

“You weren’t trying to what?” Patrick asks softly, prompting.

David takes a deep breath, meeting Patrick’s eyes with something fierce and piercing in his own. “I wasn’t trying to escape,” he says. “I don’t want to. Not you, not the store, not even this town—at least, not like I used to.”

Suddenly, Patrick feels like he can breathe again, and he wonders when he turned into such a cliché but really he doesn’t care. The relief isn’t enough to stop the exasperation in his voice when he asks, “Then what was it?”

David stares down at his hands, twisting one of his gold rings. “I—I don’t want to be left behind.”

The words are enough to jolt Patrick, electrifying him.  _ We’re afraid of the same thing. _ He pulls away from the doorframe and walks the few short steps to the bed. David stares up at him as he approaches with wide, timid eyes. David’s expression reminds Patrick of a dog that had been rescued from abuse that he’d seen at the shelter once, when he was kid: hopeful but still afraid of being kicked.

Patrick hesitates at the edge of the bed. “Me neither,” he whispers.

“I’m sorry,” David says. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you first, and I’m sorry I just assumed you would want to go, and I’m sorry if—” He stops, swallowing. “I’m sorry I made you feel left out or like I was gonna leave you behind.”

“Were you?”

Patrick hates himself for asking, the words slipping out before he even knew he was thinking them. The hurt on David’s face rivals the hurt in his own voice.

_ “No,” _ David says vehemently. “Never, Patrick, I swear. I wasn’t—I don’t want to go anywhere without you. I just, I got caught up in what Alexis was saying, and I was scared.”

Patrick sits carefully on the bed, back against the headboard and his arms hugging his knees against his chest. David stares at him, not moving into his space, and there’s too much of it between them. He sighs, stretching his legs out on the bed and setting a hand face up between them in invitation. From one painful heartbeat to the next, David’s hand is on his, and Patrick’s heart hurts a little bit less.

“Talk to me,” Patrick says quietly. “Please.”

“I, um,” David starts. “It was different after the bachelor party, when Alexis said she wanted to leave.”

“How?” Patrick asks.

David shakes his head, a swoop of his hair flopping out of place. “It wasn’t—it wasn’t real. It was abstract, her leaving. Now it might be real—it  _ is _ real—and it would be my parents, too.” He pauses, emotions battling on his expressive face. 

Patrick reaches out a surprisingly steady hand to tuck the escaped bit of hair back into place. David’s eyes meet his with a renewed look of resolve.

“I don’t want them to leave,” David admits. “I don’t want them to forget me.”

“David,” Patrick says, his name falling from his lips in a breath. “That isn’t going to happen.”

David only shrugs. “It has before.”

“David,” Patrick says again in his best  _ look at me _ tone. David looks up in surprise and the corner of Patrick’s mouth almost curves into a small smile. “I didn’t know your family before, but I do know none of you are the same people you were before. You’ve all changed, you’ve grown. They love you.”

David nods, biting his lip. Patrick wants to reach out and sooth it, but he waits, letting David think. “I know that,” he says finally, slowly. “It’s just...All of that happened here. They were— _ we _ were different people in New York.” He looks small, curled into himself except for the hand outstretched in Patrick’s. “What if everything goes back to how it was?” he asks in a small, quiet voice.

“It won’t,” Patrick says. “I promise you, David. It won’t.”

“How can you promise that?”

Patrick smiles at him. “Because while I might not have known the Roses pre-Schitt’s Creek, I know them now, and they are not the kind of people who back down from a challenge. I’m not saying the distance will be easy or that everything will be exactly the same as it is now, but I’ve seen how much you all care about each other, and what you’ll do for each other. No one is forgetting anyone, David.”

“We,” David says automatically.

Patrick frowns. “What?”

David smiles, inching forward and closing some of the distance still between them. “You said ‘they.’ You’re a Rose, too, now. Not officially, yet, but...you’re my family, too. You know that, right?”

“Oh,” Patrick breathes. “I do now.”

They grin at each other for a moment, the day’s stress and hurt behind them finally. David moves first, wrapping his arms around Patrick’s shoulders and hiding his face in his neck. Patrick’s arms slide around his waist, hugging him tight. They stay like that for a while until Patrick nudges David.

“C’mon, lie down,” he says, adjusting and pulling David down on top of him.

“I love you,” David whispers.

Patrick kisses the top of David’s head, running a hand up and down David’s back. “I love you, too,” he says. “It’ll be okay, David. Stevie will still be here, and Alexis will visit, and Johnny will come to check on the motels, and as much as she’d deny it, you know your mom would miss this place, too.”

“I think you’re right,” David says. “What about you?” he whispers extra quietly, like he’s hoping Patrick won’t even hear.

But he does, and the question breaks his heart all over again. He pulls David closer to his chest. “I’m not going anywhere, David. I always want to be by your side, but you have to  _ talk _ to me first, okay?”

“I will,” David says. “I promise.”

“Okay, David,” Patrick says. He exhales, the tiny last bit of tension leaving him. “Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are appreciated 💖  
> Find me on tumblr and twitter @banesapothecary


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